“Good job, bud,” Peach appeared by Lu Yin’s side.
Lu Yin’s expression turned grim, “Do you know who Bazeer is? He doesn’t seem all that old, looks to be the same generation as me.”
“I don’t,” Peach shook her head, but her gaze swept across the courtiers, and she picked one and pointed at him, “You, get over here.”
The middle-aged man walked over to Peach timidly, “Captain Peach, Your Majesty, is there anything I can do for you?”
“Who’s Bazeer?”
Schutz, Gerbach, and Tianming arrived at this time and looked at the minister who answered respectfully, “He is from the Helm Weave, with status just below the five Councillors of the Outerverse Youth Council. People call him the Raging Bear because his innate gift is the Ursal Stareater.”
“Ursal Stareater?” Is it a biological innate gift?” Lu Yin was surprised.
“Yes. They are a type of astral beast, and legends say that the greatest of them can swallow entire stars. Bazeer is an Explorer, but he has defeated Cruisers before.”
Lu Yin turned solemn. No wonder he was so scary, even most of the Thirteen Captains were only Cruisers. This person was indeed mighty.
“Alright, if there’s nothing else, you can leave,” Peach waved her hand.
The courtier was relieved and left immediately.
Peach patted Lu Yin’s shoulder, “Don’t overthink it, the universe is so big that there are bound to be some crazy geniuses. You’re already very powerful; at the very least, Ghostfire can’t beat you, and he’s someone even Tianming can’t defeat.”
Standing next to him, Tianming was stunned, “Captain Peach, can you not use me as an example?”
“Am I wrong? Who couldn’t defeat him just now?” Peach glanced at him.
Lu Yin smiled, “Although we’re in the same generation, he’s over thirty while I’m not even twenty years old yet. I have lots of time to catch up with him; I’m sure that I’ll be stronger than him when I reach his age.”
Peach grinned, “You’re right. All the best, I’ll be off!”
Lu Yin nodded and watched Peach leave.
“Lu Yin, when did you become so close to Captain Peach?” Gerbach asked curiously.
Lu Yin just laughed and looked at Schutz, who also looked back at him and nodded, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, I was doing it for myself, too,” Lu Yin said.
Schutz said slowly, “I originally planned to challenge them, but Ghostfire almost turned us into a joke. You saved our reputation, Your Majesty; I agree to you learning the first twenty forms of the Skybeast Claw.”
Lu Yin was elated, “Really? That’s great.”
Schutz nodded and left without mentioning anything about his battle with Lu Yin. It seemed like Ghostfire’s words had left an impact on him. Why must people suppress their realms when they battle? One’s realm was also a form of their power, this wasn’t wrong, but Lu Yin definitely wouldn’t be his match if they fought at full strength.
Gerbach and Tianming left soon after, telling Lu Yin to head to one of the halls to learn the Skybeast Claw. The first twenty forms were available at the Academy; only the rest had to be learned elsewhere. Not needed at the banquet, he had Bronsen accompany him and set off. The first twenty forms would give it power on par with the 5-star Cosmic Palm, which he didn’t want to reveal.
The hall closest to the school grounds was the formcasting pool, which was Tianming’s domain. Lu Yin headed there directly and arrived just before Tianming, who brought him to a stone wall, “The first twenty forms aren’t a secret, but less than fifty people in Yu Academy have managed to learn all of them. With your talent, though, you can probably pick it up very quickly.”
Lu Yin stared at the claw mark on the stone wall and quickly immersed himself in learning. Not wanting to disturb him, Tianming left. The Cosmic Art quickly revealed every little change in the claw mark on the wall; since he’d already learned the first fifteen moves, the next five didn’t take much time.
When he walked out only half an hour later, Tianming stared at him in shock, “You’re done learning it?”
Lu Yin smiled, “Barely.”
“I’m getting jealous of you. Your talent at this is far beyond everyone else; even Logan took much longer to learn the first twenty forms.”
Lu Yin didn’t dwell much on this topic, “Hall Master Tianming, I remember that you used a special battle technique during your battle with Ghostfire, I think it’s called the Three Stacks?”
Tianming smiled, “That’s right. Why, are you interested?”
“Can I have a look?” Lu Yin grew excited.
Tianming nodded, “Actually, the Three Stacks came from the Grandtop Weave. There’s an ancient and powerful technique there called the Nine Stacks. I spent some time there before and managed to get to three.”
He then directed his palm towards the sky, the same power erupting thrice and getting stronger with each go. The power of the third burst was more than double that of the first, similar to the Cosmic Palm. Both were stacked attacks.
Lu Yin’s eyes gleamed, “I’d like to try taking it on.”
“Sure, be careful,” Tianming nodded, directing his palm forward. Lu Yin lifted his own hand to meet Tianming’s attack, three stars flickering in his palm. A soft bang was all that occurred; Tianming hadn’t used much force behind the attack as he was only showcasing it, while Lu Yin didn’t set off his stars, either. The silent usage of the Cosmic Art revealed the changes in the attack clearly, but Lu Yin was still blasted backward by the third bang.
“What do you think?” Tianming asked.
Lu Yin swung his numb right palm and praised, “What an ingenious method of using strength.”
“Have you learned it?” Tianming smiled.
Lu Yin was astonished and replied awkwardly, “A little.”
Tianming said casually, “I heard that King Zishan can learn battle techniques from someone by watching them in battle. You don’t have to worry; this is your skill, and it’s survival of the fittest in this universe. Although it seems like we are civilized now, the world is much crueler than in the past. Regardless, you shouldn’t try to learn battle techniques from powerful ancient clans. It is hard enough to learn as they require certain conditions, but those clans also don’t allow outsiders to learn their techniques and will take offense.”
Lu Yin nodded, “Thank you for your advice, Hall Master. I’ll take my leave.”
Tianming watched Lu Yin leave.
……
Lu Yin immediately started training once he reached the King Zishan Manor, experiencing the power of Three Stacks. He only managed to understand it after an hour, and was once again amazed by how formidable the Cosmic Art was. It could clearly show every change in the opponent's battle technique, and this was only the introductory volume. What about the full Cosmic Art? Would that help him learn battle techniques of powerful clans? That would be far too scary, how powerful was the force that controlled this technique?
Lu Yin wasn’t arrogant, and he knew that there were way too many geniuses in the universe. He was sure that someone had learned the full Cosmic Art and that person would be unimaginably powerful; meanwhile, he had only just started.
Within the depths of the universe was a vast continent with a large city in the sky. This was the headquarters of the Outerverse Youth Council. Nine moons that radiated a silver glow hung in the sky, resembling an infinite river that connected the city to the mainland.
At the edge of the sky city, a beautiful young girl was looking down on the land below. She was dressed in a form-fitting white jacket with golden trim, holding a two-meter-long sword with a silver sheath. Her straight black hair went all the way down to her waist, and her calm, elegant aura was complemented by a peaceful gaze that held a hint of sharpness. She was like a sheathed sword herself; covered, yet still piercing.
The young girl looked at the scene below her quietly, seeing more and more people kneeling before her, but her gaze remained unreadable. A handsome man clad in a black robe walked over slowly from behind her, asking with a warm gaze, “What are you looking at, Wendy?”
“To them, we are gods. But then, who are our gods?”
The man smiled, “No one. We’re the only ones who can take control of our destiny.”
Wendy’s eyes gleamed, “Why did you come to find me?”
“Bazeer reported that King Zishan from your empire has publicly announced his intent to marry you,” the man sneered.
“So what?” Wendy didn’t care.
“What do you want to do? Bazeer is waiting for your orders,” the man smiled.
“It’s up to you,” Wendy said calmly, turning around to leave.